Florida Man Charged With Child Abuse For What He Called A Swim Lesson
DAYTONA BEACH (CBSMiami/CNN) – A terrifying swimming lesson led to child abuse charges against a father in Florida.
A former Georgia State Trooper watched it happen while he was on vacation.
It is illegal for anyone to jump off the Main Street Pier in Daytona Beach.
But that is what witnesses say John Bloodsworth was doing Monday night. All while his child was struggling to swim in a deep part of the Ocean near the pier.
"I said, 'I can't take this no more.' So I went down to the pier, down to the shore and confronted him myself," said witness Mitch Brown, who happens to be an ex-State Trooper.
He says he was having dinner with his family on the Main Street Pier, Monday night when they noticed a child trying to bob above the waves on the side of the pier.
"The little kid was out here by himself. Completely by himself," said Brown. "There was nobody around him, no adults."
Brown says others were watching as Bloodsworth would tumble from the pier, swim past his child, and throw him into the waves while yelling at him to learn to swim.
Fed up, the former trooper decided to confront the man.
"I said, 'you're coming with me, one way or another,'" said Brown
Brown then brought him to a Daytona Beach police officer who later arrested him.
According to a Volusia County Beach Safety Report, Bloodsworth claimed he was trying to teach his son to swim.
The officer who arrested him says the father was clearly intoxicated.
"The kid was already very visibly upset and crying, and he didn't want to be there," said Brown.
Bloodsworth is now facing child abuse and disorderly intoxication in public charges.
While at Volusia County Beach Safety Headquarters, Bloodsworth allegedly said he was 'going to jail for being awesome,' and he would be 'coming back to the pier to jump off every day.'
Bloodsworth was released from jail Tuesday after he posted bond.
(©2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company, contributed to this report.)
